Obama Seen in Poll as Steadier Than Romney on Mideast

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, President Barack Obama reiterated his vow to “do what we must to prevent Iran
from acquiring a nuclear weapon.” Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Americans have more confidence in
President Barack Obama to deal with a crisis in the Middle East
than they do Republican Mitt Romney, though they are losing
faith in the president’s handling of terrorism.

By a margin of 49 percent to 38 percent, respondents to a
Bloomberg National Poll say Obama would be better suited to cope
with unforeseen events in the volatile region.

“He’s not so quick to jump to war,” says Robert Hypes,
60, of Blacksburg, Virginia. “I think he tries diplomatic steps
more than the Republicans do.”

The advantage Obama has enjoyed since the May 2011 killing
of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces is eroding, according
to the poll, conducted Sept. 21-24. In the wake of violent
protests in Libya that left the U.S. ambassador and three other
Americans dead, likely voters, by 48 percent to 42 percent, say
Romney would be tougher on terrorism than would the president.

“His one claim to fame was getting Osama, and that was the
work of a lot of people,” says Tim Cotter, 65, a retired Air
Force major in Rome, Georgia. “Drone strikes? Yeah, he’s done
drone strikes, but he probably had to be dragged to the table
kicking and screaming by his generals.”

Romney is seeking to capitalize on turmoil in the Middle
East, ranging from strains in the U.S.-Israel alliance over a
showdown with Iran to violent protests in the once-authoritarian
countries that embraced democracy in the “Arab spring.”

Attacks Blunted

The poll, coming two weeks after Romney assailed Obama’s
response to protests in Libya and Egypt, offers little evidence
the Republican’s foreign policy critique is boosting his
candidacy.

Amid a weak economic recovery, Americans show little
interest in national security matters, the Bloomberg poll found.
Asked to identify the most important issue facing the
electorate, just 6 percent pick “the situation in the Middle
East” and 3 percent choose “terrorism,” while 43 percent say
“unemployment and jobs.”

“I personally don’t care what goes on in the Middle East
until it starts affecting Americans,” says Hypes.

Among likely voters, the two candidates duel to a near-draw
on other foreign policy questions, including dealing with Iran’s
nuclear ambitions and relations with Israel.

Forty-nine percent endorse the Obama administration’s
approach to Iran, saying the U.S. should give diplomacy and
economic sanctions additional time while discouraging the
Israeli government from launching its own attack; 32 percent say
the U.S. should join an Israeli attack.

Why the Policeman?

“Why do we have to be the policeman of the world?” says
Mike Blanchard, 53, of Millbrae, California. “Look what it’s
doing to our country.”

In a Sept. 25 speech to the United Nations General
Assembly, Obama reiterated his vow to “do what we must to
prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

Asked which candidate would do a better job on trade with
China, likely voters split evenly between the incumbent and his
Republican challenger. Romney has accused the administration of
being soft on China and said he would crack down on that
country’s “cheating” on trade, citing its inadequate
protection for intellectual property and undervalued currency.

Romney this week accused the president of leaving the U.S.
“at the mercy of events” in the Middle East. And he promised
to fight fanaticism by funneling American aid to countries that
opened their markets to U.S. goods. “The aim of a much larger
share of our aid must be the promotion of work and the fostering
of free enterprise,” he said at the annual meeting of the
Clinton Global Initiative in New York.

Down on Diplomacy

Those surveyed give Obama poorer marks for his handling of
diplomacy than in the March Bloomberg poll. By a margin of 47
percent to 45 percent, respondents disapprove of the president’s
handling of relations with other countries. In March, 54 percent
of respondents approved and 40 percent disapproved.

“He’s just in over his head,” said Jerry Norman, 69, of
Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Both candidates confront ample voter skepticism about their
ability to keep their promises. By a margin of 61 percent to 35
percent, likely voters doubt Obama will be able to stop Iran’s
drive to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Likely voters, by a 50 percent to 41 percent margin, say
they are skeptical that Romney will follow through with promises
to designate China a currency manipulator and to impose duties
on imports from that country.

Crippling al-Qaeda

Overall, the Democratic Party’s traditional vulnerability
on national-security issues has receded at a time of economic
weakness, according to the poll.

Joseph Green, 22, of Roselle, Illinois, credits Obama with
using covert operations to undermine Iran’s nuclear research and
with crippling al-Qaeda’s terrorist ambitions with targeted
killings.

“Commanding officers and people all the way down the list
have just been taken off the map,” says Green, who works for an
e-mail marketing company.

The legacy of the war in Iraq, started in 2003 to find
weapons of mass destruction that were never located, remains a
cautionary story for some. Amy Temple Harper, 42, a writer in
Portland, Oregon, says she was worried the U.S. might
“overreact” in the region.

“Recent history shows that has led to a huge cost of lives
and resources,” she says.

The poll of 1,007 adults, including a subset of 789 likely
voters, was conducted for Bloomberg News by Selzer & Co. of Des
Moines, Iowa. The results for the general population have a
margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points; those
for the likely voters have an error margin of 3.5 points.